Some retailers on the East and West Coasts have sold Star Wars action figures for as high as $11.99 apiece, with Target being the worst offender in higher income metro areas.

Even in middle America the price of a basic action figure has risen from about $4.99 at the end of the nineties and the early years of the 2000's to at least $9.96 today. The prices are almost sure to break the four-digit threshold even in small towns as this decade progresses, and I could easily see a basic Hasbro action figure costing twelve bucks before tax by the time Episode VII hits theaters and toy aisles in the spring of 2015.